❓ - Is C-U Really the Nation's #1 Worst Housing Market?

Don't Confuse Monthly Volatility with Long-Term Depreciation

The original article at Realtor.com talks about Champaign home values being down in a very specific set of criteria. Let’s look at why focusing on a single month’s median price is misleading:

The Volatility Trap:
Yes, we saw a dip in the single-month median price from approximately $245,000 in July 2024 to $225,000 in September 2024. This kind of month-to-month shift often reflects the specific mix of homes that happened to sell that month—perhaps more entry-level homes closed in September, pulling the median down. This monthly fluctuation happens throughout each and every year.  A two-month snapshot is too short to gauge market health.

The True Trend is Appreciation:
When we zoom out to a useful timeframe, the story changes entirely. The 6-month rolling average median price in our market tells the true story of value growth: it rose from approximately $220,000 in November 2024 to $240,000 in November 2025. That is a strong 9% increase in just one year, proving that our market is steadily appreciating, not declining.


The bottom line is that while monthly data points can fluctuate, the long-term price trend in Champaign-Urbana is definitively up. For both buyers and sellers, it's important to pay attention to both short-term trends and these longer averages for making sound financial decisions.


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